Chapter 99 Erina Valdemar's First Appearance [1]

The Next Day ~

Ares was putting on his academy uniform as he watched the news on the television.

And as a result of his accusations against the Hero Association, the entire continent was now in an uproar and condemning them.

So, In order to address the populace's worries, the hero organization has decided to hold a press conference later today.

"I'm not sure how my stepmother feels now that her plan to trap me has failed, and one of her sons has to live the rest of his life with impotency," Ares muttered to himself as he chuckled.

[Yes, she may now truly be going insane, but what happened to your father—by which I mean the king of your kingdom? Has he allowed the Queen to act however she pleases?] Silvia, who was on the phone call with Ares, questioned.

"Hmm, That's what I wanted to know as well; because I know he's a power-hungry King who wouldn't hesitate to abandon his own son if he deemed him useless.

So I'm not sure how he came to the decision to disown me when my fame as a result of my prowess is at an all-time high right now, and there's also the fact that my master is an SS-Rank." Ares stated.

"If what you said is right, will he now abandon his impotent son as well?" Irethiel inquired, laughing.

"I know, right? But, as Aretrus is the current Queen's son, I don't think that's possible, given how much power she wields.

I'm even skeptical that she could have bewitched or otherwise harmed the king and is now ruling on his behalf.

Because aside from that, I have no other explanation as to why the King does not appear in public and why the Queen appears to be in charge of all decisions." Ares explained as he left his dorm room and moved toward the Advisor's training ground.

[Certainly, your assumption seems correct to me as well.] Silvia stated.

"Oh, I also saw something similar in that anime thing, where the queen would poison the king so that her son would inherit the throne," Irethiel remarked.

[I watched that anime as well. Isn't it one of the anime Aegis sent?] Silvia inquired.

"...Perhaps, because I didn't have time to watch them. However, Irethiel appears to have already seen the majority of the animes that Aegis had sent me," Ares responded.

[...I see.] Silvia uttered in a low voice.

"Also I'm now beginning to suspect that the Hero Association wasn't targeting Mika, but rather me, and that my stepmother was behind the ranking lists incident, and Mika was simply targeted because of me," Ares assessed.

[Yes, that's not entirely impossible.] Silvia replied.

"...."

For a brief moment, there was silence as they both remained silent, unsure of what to say next.

"Oh, did you deal with your Secretary yet?" Ares suddenly questioned Silvia.

[...I have, indeed. And your suspicions about her were correct; she appears to have been informing my fictitious father about everything I do on a daily basis.] Silvia replied.

"So she was keeping an eye on your every move huh," Ares explained.

[Yes, it seems to be so.] Silvia answered.

"What a bitch move, that is. I detest the kind of bastards that hang around by your side all the time, waiting for the right opportunity to backstab you," Irethiel abruptly remarked.

"...."

"...Okay Silvia, I'll call you later because I have to go to class right now. And if you ever need my assistance, feel free to contact me," Ares stated after a brief pause.

[O-Okay, I'll get in touch with you later. Bye!] Silvia answered.

"Alright bye!" I hung up the phone after saying that.

***

After hanging up the phone with Silvia, I quickly arrived at the advisor training grounds.

"Hello there!"

And as soon as I stepped onto the training grounds, I was greeted by someone unexpected.

!?

I furrowed my brow as I looked at the person in front of me, then turned to Ziona to inquire as to why this person was here.

But when Ziona caught my gaze, she just shrugged and smiled awkwardly.

And before I could ask why she was here, she charged at me and attempted to punch me in the face.

But before her punch could reach my face, I casually deflected it with one hand.

Smack!—

"...."

"...What are you doing?" I questioned her while staring at her blankly.

When she saw how easily I deflected her attack, she widened her eyes in surprise as she was taken aback.

"A-As one would expect from the generation's number one. I can now see why even the Famous Miss Tania wanted you to be her disciple," The woman stated.

"...Erina, why are you here?" Bianca suddenly inquired as she entered the training field.

!?

"Erina? Are you Erina Valdemar?" I asked even though I already knew who she was.

"Haha, Nice to meet you, Ares, I am Erina Valdemar, the first princess of the kingdom of Aloctona," Erina introduced herself while awkwardly laughing.

"So, Erina, how can I help you?" As I stared at her, I inquired.

"I see you're a small talker, which is fine; that personality suits you perfectly," Erina conveyed as she nodded repeatedly while smiling.

"Get out of here, brat, I have a class to take," Bianca said as she lifted Erina by the back of her collar.

"Ahh, Miss Bianca, don't be like that. I need to talk to Ares about something important," Erina said as she struggled to break Bianca's grip on her collar.

"You can talk about whatever you want to with him after my class," Bianca said as she literally threw Erina out of the training grounds.

Thud!—

And it appears she hit her head on the wall.

"Ouch!" Erina's scream could be heard.

"Fuck yeah! What difference does it make whether she is a princess of some Kingdom or not?" I muttered aloud and laughed.

Hearing me, Ziona, and Kevin burst out laughing, while Bianca smiled and shook her head.

"...You do realize I can still hear you right?" Erina screamed from outside the training grounds.

"...."

"She has excellent hearing abilities," Ziona stated as she continues to laugh.

I suddenly turned to face Bianca, as I felt her gaze on me.

"Ah? You want to know if the information from my interview is credible, correct?" I inquired of Bianca.

"...Yes, you are aware that if your allegations against the Hero Association are proven to be false, you will face a massive backlash from the populace, right?

And retaliation from the hero association is already a foregone conclusion." Bianca stated.

"In any case, everything I said during my interview yesterday was genuine.

And as for the hero association's retaliation, they've already held a grudge against me for unknown reasons, so they're free to come after me at any time.

I've got nothing to lose anyway," I shrugged as I stated.

"...I wish I had the same confidence as you when I was young, as they refused to let me into the association just because my background is from a witch community," Bianca said with an uneasy smile.

"...."

She rendered me speechless as I didn't know how to react to that, and after a brief uncomfortable silence in which nobody spoke, we eventually heard someone speaking from next to us.

"Wow, what confidence, hmm hmm," Erina exclaimed abruptly while nodding repeatedly.

!?

We were startled to see her standing next to us when we turned to look at her.

"O-Okay, I'll wait for him outside the training grounds until this class is over, then bye!" Erina said and rushed out of the training ground as she felt my and Bianca's stares.

And after she left, we quickly put on our safety gear and began our skill training.

***